Page 23 of A Letter to the Last House Before the Sea

When she stayed quiet, her mum jumped back in. ‘Anyway, I’m sure you’re reading far too much into this old letter you found. It was probably sent to Iris by some man who was infatuated with her when she was younger and she never completely forgot him. That’s all.’

‘Has Dad ever mentioned anything about any of this?’

‘Your father?’ Her mum laughed. ‘Of course not. He’s a lovely man but he goes through life oblivious to what’s happening around him. Always has.’ She paused to draw breath. ‘Anyway, Iris never talked about whoever wrote this letter, so how important could he have been?’

‘Sometimes talking about painful things is difficult.’

‘That’s very true, which is why it’s often better to sweep things under the carpet and get on with life.’

Lettie winced. Her mother, like Daisy, was ever pragmatic and practical. The past was gone, so move on…

‘Possibly, but…’

Her mum sighed down the line. ‘It’s ancient history, Lettie, and you’ve always been obsessed by the past, I know. But don’t let your feelings for Iris lead you on a wild goose chase. We need you back home. Daisy’s desperate to see you. She and Jason have got tickets to some concert at the O2 so she needs you to look after the children. I can’t be trekking across London at the dead of night to babysit, and I don’t want to stay over because their spare bed is so lumpy.’

‘Tell me about it.’

‘Your young back can take it. Unlike mine.’

Lettie sat down on a bench and stretched out her legs as her mother launched into a long list of her ailments, followed by an update on her grandchildren. The sun was warm on her face and she closed her eyes.

‘Lettie, are you listening to me?’

‘Absolutely.’ Lettie sat up straight and blinked. ‘I’ll be back soon.’

‘Good. Well, enjoy your break now you’re there, but don’t get caught up in silly stuff.’

‘OK. Give Dad my love.’

‘I will. Bye, and see you in a few days.’

Pushing her phone back into her pocket, Lettie sighed. She could see the future that her family had mapped out for her – unpaid nanny to Daisy’s kids, marriage to a ‘safe’ man who was happy living close to her parents and, eventually, as her mum and dad got older, becoming their carer. Daisy wouldn’t do it and Ed only visited intermittently.

‘Hey, I was hoping to catch up with you.’

She was surprised to see Simon pushing open the churchyard gate. He veered from the path and walked straight across the grass towards her.

‘What are you doing sitting in a graveyard?’ he asked, turning up his nose at the historic stones. ‘Looking for ancestors?’

‘Something like that,’ said Lettie, realising that she hadn’t seen a single Starcross in the graveyard. It was as though her family had been expunged from the village.

‘Have you seen the old Allford woman yet?’ Simon sat down beside her and pushed his blond hair behind his ears.

‘Only briefly. I helped Mrs Allford with her shopping earlier.’

Simon leaned towards her, to hear more, but there was no way Lettie was going to tell him how their conversation had really gone, or why it had led her to this graveyard.

‘Nice. It’s good to gain her trust.’

He winked as Lettie twisted round towards him.

‘I was being helpful, and I’m only interested in finding out more about my great-aunt. I’m not buttering her up so you can move in and make a deal with her for the land.’

‘Of course not.’ He laughed, before leaning even closer. ‘But you could always drop me into the conversation to, you know, keep me and my very generous offer at the forefront of her mind.’

‘I don’t know enough about you or your offer to do that.’

‘What do you want to know about me? I’m a bona fide businessman with plenty of irons in the fire.’